Overview
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project - EIP-AGRI Operational Group

SiGCa: Forest management systems in quality timber producing forests

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Completed | 2018 - 2020 Spain
Completed | 2018 - 2020 Spain

Objectives

The general objectives of this project are:
- To analyse the factors that determine the quality of standing timber.
-To obtain practical management standards that allow forest managers to manage their forest based on forest quality.
- To create standardization tools validated by the industry in terms of performance and final product quality.

Activities

1. Forest modeling and management diagrams
2. Development of tools to improve the quality of wood
2.1. Use of acoustic techniques for the valorization of wood
2.2. Establishment of quality standards
3. Update of volume equations (model trees) by laser
4. Incorporation of aerial laser in the valuation of forest use
5. Improvement and standardization of the techniques of signaling and characterization of the uses

Additional information

FULL MEMBERSHIP
MAIN PARTNERS: Agresta S.coop/ Fundación CESEFOR/ Fora Forest technologies/Cetemas/ madera plus/ HAZI /Exfopino /
OTHER PARTNERS: Universidad de Lleida ./Universidad de Santiago /Universidad de Valladolid/ Confederación de organizaciones de selvicultores de españa COSE ./Consejería de desarrollo rural y recursos naturales. Principado de Asturias./DG del Medio Natural. Consejería de Medio Rural, pesca y alimentación. Gobierno de Cantabria ./Junta de Castilla León. Dirección General del Medio Rural de la Junta de Castilla y León                                                              

Project details
Main funding source
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups
Rural Development Programme
2014ES06RDNP001 España - Programa Nacional de Desarrollo Rural
Location
Main geographical location
A Coruña
Other geographical location
León, Asturias

EUR 538 000.00

Total budget

Total contributions from EAFRD, national co-financing, additional national financing and other financing.

Project keyword

Resources

Audiovisual Material

15 Practice Abstracts

Final conference of the project: Unfortunately the end of the project coincided with the terrible pandemic situation due to Covid19. For this reason we had no choice but to hold the Final Technical Conference in an online format, as at that time there were major social restrictions. The Technical Workshop was held in June 2020, more than 100 people signed up and you can still see the video of the workshop in the following LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa6ZEN6CdkY&t=623s

Editing of 7 video-guides with the main results of the project:

In the final phase of the project, 7 video guides with the main results of the project were recorded, edited and edited. These video guides explain in a simple and accessible way to the interested public the aspects, techniques and tools developed in the eproject. The video guides can be viewed through the following link:

https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/material-multimedia

International communication of the project:

Unfortunately the arrival of Covid19, and the prevention measures that were developed during 2020. It had an important effect on the development of this result because the restriction of movements meant that most of the events where the international expansion of the project was planned were cancelled. However, the international reach was achieved thanks to the project's website as well as the partners' websites where the milestones of the project were reported. Prior to COVID19, the project could be present in different sectoral events in France where the project milestones could be explained.

‘Development of technical documentation for users:

During the project a lot of technical information was developed with the results of the project, which can be consulted in the results section of the WEB.

In addition, two manuals were published:

1-Sawed timber grading manual, which can be consulted in :-

www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/content/edicion-digital-de-manual-de-clas…

2- Manual of dendrometry applied to maritime pine, which can be downloaded at the following link:

https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/content/edicion-digital-de-dendro…

’

Newsletter communication. At the beginning of the project all project partners generated a database of more than 2000 potential users. During the life of the project 7 newsletters were generated with the most interesting developments of the project. These newsletters were sent to the contacts registered in the database of potential users. The newsletters can also be found on the project website: www.sigcamaderadecalidad.

Continuous communication through social networks. 

During the project, the project's social networks Twitter and Linkedin were set up. More than 200 followers were created on the networks and more than 70 tweets were posted about the project, which allowed for quick and direct communication with different stakeholders in the project.

During the project, the website www.sigcamaderadecalidad.es was developed.

This website served as a space for information about the project to the general public. The website has different sections. Particularly interesting is the section on objectives and results. In this section any user can find the objectives and deliverables achieved in the project. The website also has a space for communication where all the advances of the project were uploaded. In this section you can also find the Newsletters that were launched during the project.

 

The results for “Timber marking and tracing tool” have been: a) Standardization of visual grading and marking system for maritime pine standing timber qualities. The end user can use the practical guide developed to know how to classify maritime pine standing timber and thus adjust the price and standardize the language and terminology used in the timber quality sector. It also has guidelines, photos and tricks to learn in this task of identification and classification of standing timber.

b) Development of a digital tool to facilitate the traceability and monitoring of wood and its quality for the actors in the forest value chain, from the marking of wood and harvesting in the forest to the delivery of the wood to the industry (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu8NC2QPjA4). 

The application is available on a specific on-line platform: http://sigca.agrestaweb.org/#/. End users, both managers and harvesters, have a web and mobile application to manage the traceability of their harvests.

The results of the “Qualitative inventory of maritime pine stands and development of a SigCa Guarantee Mark” are as follows: a) Predictive models of expected maritime pine timber volumes by quality classes have been developed, based on dasometric and LiDAR variables, according to two quality criteria: structural timber and a proprietary aesthetic standard for carpentry wood. This set of equations is of great relevance for management and planning purposes in order to have precise estimates, at a large scale, of the volumes of wood of each type of quality to be expected, which constitutes a significant improvement when planning and quantifying harvests at local and regional level. These results are available at https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/resultados. b) The quantitative and qualitative characterization and classification of maritime pine stands has been carried out. Two models were obtained to predict the value of the Elasticity Modulus after breaking test based on data collected in the field. From the data entered by the user, the developed algorithms will be applied and the result obtained will show the strength class of wood and its quality for structural timber, as well as the prediction error based on the input data. As a result, a web viewer tool was generated that allows the user to predict structural wood quality in a forest stand very useful for forestry technicians and industries. c) Thanks to the previous results, a guarantee mark could be generated. This encourages and greatly facilitates the marketing of maritime pine timber to the end user.

 

The key findings of the "New Silvicultural Reference Itineraries for Producing High-Quality Timber" include:

a) Four silvicultural reference itineraries have been defined to optimise the economic performance of Pinus pinaster ssp. atlantica forests. These itineraries propose six management alternatives for pine forests, each with different objectives but always prioritising the production of high-quality timber.

b) An economic assessment of each itinerary has also been carried out, considering the various expected timber quality classes. This evaluation provides economic insights that can guide forest managers in selecting the most suitable itinerary for their maritime pine forests. The profitability of four silvicultural alternatives has been described, considering different potential products, plantation locations (inland or coastal), and site quality, under two financial scenarios and two timber price scenarios.

Full details can be found at: https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/sites/default/files/resultados/ad….

The results for the “first mechanical classification system based on acoustic techniques for the structural classification of maritime pine sawn timber for the construction sector and the pre-grading of felled trees and logs” have been obtained through different tasks of classification by quality of sawn timber (500 boards), from roundwood obtained from the project plots (100 logs). The visual classification of the boards was compared with the mechanical classification with sonic methods on green and dry boards and contrasted with the data of Elasticity Modulus after breaking test. Statistical adjustments were obtained that allow the structural classification of maritime pine wood into two strength classes: C18 and C24 in green wood from velocity data obtained with resonance equipment. The results have allowed the development, for the first time in Spain, of a mechanical classification standard for Pinus pinaster wood using sonic methods, which is currently being used in several companies. In addition, a “Manual for visual grading of sawn timber. Technical and normative aspects”, where the user can find the regulatory framework and the structural and aesthetic criteria to be applied in the classification of maritime pine timber. In addition, several probabilistic models have been developed from this data to predict the strength class of the boards that will come out of a log. The simplest uses the speed in the log. The effectiveness can be improved by incorporating the diameter of the log, the green density. The acoustic classification of logs improves the performance of structural boards by 11 to 30% compared to unclassified logs.

This implies a breakthrough in wood classification that benefits timber industries using maritime pine.

The results for “Standardization of technological qualities in different products along the forest-industry value chain” classified 100 logs and 500 pieces of sawn timber, to determine priority destinations for maritime pine timber.

For the logs: data on conicity, curvature and presence of knots were evaluated, as well as the speed of displacement of an impact wave. Log yield analysis was carried out and it was concluded that the yield of the pieces decreases according to the degree of curvature of the logs. Subsequently, the logs were sawn, obtaining boards in four different dimensions. An analysis of the quality of the pieces was carried out on these boards, with two clearly differentiated destinations: structural use and non-structural use (carpentry, aesthetic value). 

The analysis of the data shows significant differences in the technological properties evaluated in the logs, between plots and according to the position of the log in the trunk. These classifications showed, in the case of structural wood, rejection percentages within the usual margins for coniferous wood, although it is again concluded that an adequate silviculture would produce a decrease in the defects of the wood with the corresponding improvement in its classification and therefore an improvement in the revaluation and commercialization of maritime pine wood.

The information generated is very valuable both for managers to know what silviculture to apply if they want to improve the quality of the wood, and for the maritime pine industries so that they can better classify logs and sawn timber and thus be more competitive.

 

The technological properties of the wood of standing trees have been characterized in 36 stands of the Pinus pinaster species distributed along Galicia and the Cantabrian Coast. Plots with a radius of 14.1 m were established and speed measurements were made using the ST300 sonic equipment (Fibre-Gen NZ) and the density of the wood was calculated to classify the plots based on their technological properties for structural use.

It is shown that the quality of the structural wood of maritime pine increases with the age of the tree and for the same age it is better in the best station qualities, in areas of lower altitude and with little slope and in the most slender trees. The dynamic module increases fourfold for the age range, site indices and silvicultural management studied. The crown height, crown ratio and tree diameter can be controlled by pruning actions at height and thinning at the top in favor of codominant trees over dominant ones in the stand.

Linear models have been developed at plot level for the data set, relating the dynamic standing MOE with the values ​​of the forest inventory and the physiographic variables. A GIS tool has been developed that integrates the algorithms to predict the Elastic Modulus and the resistant class of the wood of a tree and a forest stand based on sonic velocity, wood density and other tree, mass and station quality variables provided by the user or predicted based on remote data.

The most notable findings among the "Tools for Calculating and Classifying Timber Volumes Based on the Morphological Characteristics of Standing Trees, Using Airborne and Terrestrial LiDAR" are:

a) 3D scans have been made of all the project plots, with the possibility of repeating other measurements or scans in the future to analyze the growth and disturbances that are recorded in the future.

b) The dendrometric results obtained have been published in two publications in Spanish available on the website https://prb.hazi.eus/es/proyectoshazi/basogintza/10035-sigca-gestion-fo… -quality.html

c) Predictive models of maritime pine timber quality have been developed based on basic dendrometric variables. These models provide precise estimates of the expected volumes according to two quality criteria: (1) Structural timber (ME-1 and ME-2) and (2) A proprietary aesthetic standard for carpentry wood (C0-C4). This set of equations is highly relevant for management purposes, as it enables rapid and accurate estimates of the volumes of maritime pine timber for each quality type while the trees are still standing. This represents a significant improvement in planning and quantifying harvests.

The derived equations and full details of the adjustment process can be found at: https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/sites/default/files/resultados/ad….

The key findings of the "Quantitative Inventory and Representative Sampling of Maritime Pine Stands at the National Level" include:

a) Development of a distribution layer for maritime pine, covering the autonomous communities of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country.

b) Completion of 33 field plots and the creation of four predictive statistical models for stand attributes based on data from airborne LiDAR scans.

c) Generation of high-resolution mapping (25 m pixel size) for the entire distribution area of maritime pine in Galicia and the Cantabrian Coast, using LiDAR data and modelling processes. This mapping predicts timber stocks and other variables of significant interest for managing Pinus pinaster forests.

This information enables end users to understand the distribution of the target species and the location of the field plots. It is valuable for future research and for interpreting the results of subsequent actions under this Operational Group. Additionally, the generated mapping is of great importance for both planning and management purposes, providing crucial information on where, when, and how much maritime pine timber can be sustainably harvested.

SIG files can be downloaded at https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/resultados (click on the link at R1) and the details about de modelling procedure are available at https://www.sigcamaderadecalidad.info/sites/default/files/resultados/ad…

Contacts

Project coordinator

  • Agresta S. Coop

    Project coordinator

    agresta@agresta.org (+34) 913 540 213 C/ Duque de Fernán Núñez, 2, 1º Other

Project partners

  • Centro Tecnológico Forestal y de la Madera

    Project partner

    jmajada@cetemas.es 984500000 Pumarabule S/N, Carbayín Research institute

  • Exfopino SL

    Project partner

    oficina@exfopino.com 981804372 Guilloi 1. Dodro Other

  • Fora Forest Tecnologies SLL

    Project partner

    inigo.lizarralde@fora.es 975253886 Eduardo Saavedra 38, Soria SME

  • Fundación Centro de Servicios y Promoción Forestal CyL

    Project partner

    laura.gomez@cesefor.com 975212453 Pol. Industrial Las Casas Calle C Parcela 4, Soria Research institute

  • Fundación HAZI

    Project partner

    acantero@hazi.eus 945003240 Granja modelo s/n, Arkaute Araba Other

  • Madera Plús Calidad Forestal SL

    Project partner

    pbarrero@cetemas.es 988049360 Rúa de Vigo, 2, San Cibrao das Viñas SME